Restoring Hope to a World of Ashes
by Terminal lance
Summary: The avatar never returned, the world entered a modern age and destroyed itself in nuclear fire. Now five hundered years later Katara and Sokka fin Aang but they are being hunted and must trust a mysterious mercanary named Zuko. everyones five years older.
1. Prologue

It was seventy five years ago that I was born, just a small infant in this world. It was five hundred years ago that the world was plunged into nuclear fire by the warring of nations over old grudges and territory as resources depleted. The end of divination was the breaking point of an uneasy peace that had last through the modern age after the great fire war, back when the avatar disappeared and didn't return, back when we still used swords and blades. Back when the world was a safe place for most, a time of kings, queens and legends of heroic benders who fought for their country against the tyrannical fire nation. Then the two nations united and the world once again became a place of peace and the air benders began to remerge from hiding and new air benders where born to rebalance the world. Then we had technological brake through in ever aspect of life, resources where plentiful and prosperity flowed like a sea but it wouldn't last. We began to fight and eventually we used the ultimate weapon and ended our world as we knew it, now it's a barren wasteland of swamps, dessert and dead forests. A place of dystopia, chaos and anarchy as we humans try to survive. There are those who formed tribes, cities, even small nations. Then there are those who live by stealing, slaving and killing in this world so out of balance. This will be my last entry before, well I move on. If the man who shoot me reads, know I don't hate you but pity you.

_Snap!_

A man stood up, he was around six foot and two hundred pounds, and he wore a long brown leather jacket with many pockets holding magazines for the ak-47 and m14 sniper rifle slung on his back. Strapped to each hip was a long barreled, large caliber rifle. He wore a full brimmed brown hat, his black hair blew in the slight breeze, he had on black aviator style glasses and a scarf like cloth covered his lower face, a large red burn scar over his left eye. In his hand was a book that he had been reading from, it was a beaten journal.

"October 13" the man said "im sorry, but a jobs a job" The man pocketed the book and walked away from the body of the dead man. He walked over to an olive drab motorcycle with large leather saddle bags and put the diary in one on top of food, water and clothing in it. He reached in the other one and pulled out a case, he sat down on his bike that groaned under the new weight. He placed the case on his lap and opened it up to reveal a computer that had seen better days, its paint was wearing and it was covered in dust. He fired it up and extended an antenna out of it and clicked on a button, a few minutes later a voice came from the computer.

"Password?" it said.

"Blazing sun" Said the man, his voice muffled by the cloth.

"What?" The bike rider pulled the mask down revealing some of his pale skin part of his fire nation heritage.

"Blazing sun fucktard" He said.

"Calm down, I assume he's dead?" The men on the other side asked the bounty hunter.

"Yes now what's the next job?" The mercenary asked as he sat astride his bike.

"Ill send the file, always working huh Zuko?"

"Yeah" Zuko said shutting off the call and read through the file on his next job.

"Southern water tribe huh, haven been that way in awhile" Zuko said closing the case and placing it back in its bag. He looked around at the dissolute, barren, rocky landscape. He wasn't far from the coast where he would find a boat to the arctic area of the world where the southern water tribe once existed. He pulled the face mask back up and kicked on his bike and went ripping off along the ground on a course for Rivet city.


	2. Chapter 1

**I would like my two reviewers, thanks for taking the time. I would like to change the title so if anyone has in suggestions just send me a massage. I have no excuse as to why this is such a late update.**

Zuko rode along the broken road in the ruins of a city, its name a forgotten memory. The disheveled buildings and the rubble made the place dreary and gloomy, but that was the world now days. The silhouette of a large fire nation ship, an aircraft carrier, appeared on the horizon. The ship was now the safest city in the area, with close to one thousand citizens living in its hull. The city was a source of trade, safety from the horrors of the wastes that lay beyond its safe drawbridge. Zuko's bike roared as he drove it up to the bridge, the old Harley Davidson was his pride and joy, it served him well. It was as new as it could have been, the bike like most of the vehicles before the nukes feel was nuclear powered. The guards stopped Zuko at the gate; he took the cloth shemagh and pulled it of his face. The first security guard, a younger looking kid around sixteen approached him, the boy was obviously nervous.

"No need to be frightened boy, Im no villain just some scraggly waster looking for a safe place to rest" Zuko said smiling. He truly was a rough looking person, the huge red scar on his face, the unkempt thin beard around his jaw and his somewhat length black hair added a rough look to his appearance along with the dirt and dust that covered him.

"Well, okay" said the kid nervously as he stepped aside.

"Thanks" Zuko said and drove across the bridge; he heard one of the guards mumble something about "filthy wasters". Zuko didn't care; he had learned to block that out. He parked his bike in the garage that was built on the flight deck. He grabbed the computer, all his food and water, ammo, and a bottle of vodka. He took a swig of the drink and felt it run down his throat, the burning sensation blocked out the memories of his past, and made him feel some what better.

_Well, I made it back this time and I didn't even run into any of the infected. _Zuko sighed and walked for the door to the lower levels and to the "home" he had bought in the city, _at least uncle and Azula are here_. The large metal door slammed behind him and he walked down the stairs and the huge hanger deck that was now a market place. His employer had a head quarters here, it was a small section of the ship they had bought out and the main door had a key card lock on it.

Zuko's boots clanked on the metal deck as he walked down the flight of stairs to the main floor of the carrier's hanger deck. The area was filled with structures, roofs supported by poles and had few walls made up most of the shops, a restaurant, Gary's galley, was at the far end. The marketplace was the best for miles around and had lots to offer. Zuko walked along the "streets" created by the stalls to his uncle's store, a small tea shop at the south end. Fires burned in side of oil drums to keep the place warm, the electric lights over head made shadows all around. The noise of people talking with each other, merchants advertising goods, and the haggling of the shops owners and patrons filled the huge area with a dull roar. Zuko stopped at one of the gun shops; it was one of the fully walled structures in the market. Its roof was made of old sheet metal and the walls where of the same material. The door was a chain link fence gate, which Zuko opened and stepped into the store. The inside of the store was just as rundown and dirty as the rest of the city, dirty light bulbs gave of a sickly yellow light and the dented lockers, cabinets and the banged up desk that served as a table added to the seedy appearance.

"Well, hello there me boy" Said the owner of the shop "Welcome to mausers gunship, my names Mauser. Well what can I do for you?"

"Not much, just need ammo" Zuko said pulling empty magazines from their pockets and placing them on the table. Mauser picked up the mags and looked them over; he bounced one in his hand.

"Well give me one second, ill get this filled for you" Mauser said walking to the back of his shop. The sound of brass hitting a metal table sounded like a rain storm, Zuko checked over one of his revolvers, it was an old fire nation model, the S&W 500. While ammo was rare for a weapon of its caliber, not to mention expensive, it put anything on the ground no questions asked. He spun its cylinder and remoistened the large weapon, _how long does it take to fill four fucking magazines?_ Zuko thought to himself annoyed by the slowness of the owner. The man walked back out, four full magazines of 5.56 ammo for his AK-47 assault rifle; it was the staple of the fire nations military and its industry. Cheap, reliable and easy to make, there weren't many farther in the old earth kingdoms but they always worked. Zuko placed the magazines in to their respective pockets and looked up at the man.

"How much I owe you?" Zuko asked incredulously. The man did some quick math on a calculator that was beat to hell and barley worked.

"About a hundo caps" Mauser said.

"One hundred caps for ninety, fucking rounds? You trying to rip me off here?" Zuko asked angered with the price of the ammo. Rounds where everywhere, you just had to look and chagrining more then one cap for such a common bullet was just plan ridiculous.

"Well, you see I don't like to sell to those who are wanted by my homeland so for you one hundred, mister Zuko" Mauser said "maybe next time your in Eden you wont go and kill a whole village to get one man" Zuko growled at the man, _why does this kind of shit always happen to me!_

"Stand around any longer you filthy merc and its one fifty" Mauser said crossing his arms. Zuko reached into his pocket and slammed the caps one the table.

"Here's your money, Go fuck yourself" Zuko said turning from the shop owner and kicking open the door.

"Up yours to bud" Mauser shot back in return. Zuko was now fuming and walked through the door of The Agency's head quarters. The man at the desk looked up, he wore a clean suit. The man was of obvious fire nation descent with light skin and brown eyes.

"Well, welcome back I guess you wish to cash some chits, mister Zuko?" The man asked.

"That and pick up my next mission file" Zuko said sitting in the chair on the desk so he faced his fellow agent.

"My names Quinn, so you are the infamous Zuko" Quinn looked him over "you know that quite a lot of people want you dead my friend" Zuko nodded, he was more than well aware of this fact.

"Wow not even employed for ten years and already enough jobs completed to retire, quite the worker" Quinn's hands skimmed the keys on the terminal; he was going through his file. The Agency had a file on everyone and everything on the planet; it was always watching, always analyzing and gathering data. It used its field agents, such as Zuko as a front for a mercenary company, this part of it was known by many as BLACK, however it was much bigger then a simple mercenary company. It made sure the world shaped into what it deemed acceptable and changed things it deemed undesirable. The Agency was responsible for the rise of the "United Republic". A Massive nation that was powerful, but in the state the world was in a massive nation meant a few hundred square miles. The Agency was everywhere, listing, changing and searching for something.

Zuko was an agent and he had gone on many missions for the agency that he was not proud of. He worked for them for three reasons, one it paid well, two when he and Azula escaped they took and hid them from the Dragon Conclave and three the siblings where engineered and trained for combat. However Azula was too young to be a mercenary so she ran the shop that Zuko, Azula, and Iroh ran.

"My, my look at all that black ink" Quinn said "you have about thirteen chits, so here's what we got for you" Quinn turned the terminal so Zuko could see. The list had a good deal of weapons on it, however something caught his eye.

"What is the Seiko?" Zuko asked Quinn.

"It's an upgrade to a new terminal system; it's a lot smaller and a bit stronger. Its one flaw is that to transmit data you must jack into a radio tower but it has a lot of functions and would leave you with three chits left" _hu, well it would give me more space in my bike plus I wont haft to lug around that terminal_.

"Deal, now the file" Quinn nodded and handed him a folder "the Seiko will be delivered to your home shortly" Zuko nodded and walked from the room and out to the bustling marketplace, the noise filled his ears again and he walked to the doors to the residential area. The huge metal door swung open and he walked down the junk filled hall. _Well I know im going south, great the cold sucks_. Zuko yanked his door open and locked it behind him and set his gear down and pulled of his coat, exposing the black shirt underneath. His revolvers he always keeps on him. The vest came off and he sat down in a soft chair and opened the folder. He read through it, _Great im done there one monitoring mission, well maybe the tribe girls are a little lose. _

"Who is it?" He barked, he was angry.

"It's your uncle" Zuko smiled, he loved his uncle like a father.

"And Azula" His sister said, well sister in a lose term.

"Come on in" Zuko said. Azula worked for the Agency and while not as infamous as Zuko, she had done a lot of missions and was wanted as well. Zuko is twenty five and Azula just turned twenty one. The two walked in to the room and uncle Iroh took a seat in another soft chair and Azula pulled a wooden table chair out and flipped it around and sat so the back was against her chest.

"Azula, I have another mission we leave in two days" Zuko said "So look after the shop again and remember to not buy anything that's broken we don't know how to fix we lose money on repairing our own merchandise"

"You should stop working for that company, you are ruining your life by ending others for money" Iroh said.

"What else should we do uncle? It's not like we were meant for anything else" Zuko said

"Im tired and don't need an argument or one of your speeches. Im going to the muddy rudder" Zuko said standing up and walking out for the bar. He didn't want to go off again like this, for one he hates the cold and two observations was as boring as it got. The Muddy Rudder, the cities local bar was packed full of people as Zuko walked in and sat down at the counter.

"Well if it's not the devil he, I do believe there's a bounty out for your head from one of those tribes whose leader you murdered" said a voice behind in a sneering fashion. Zuko sighed and looked at three men standing behind him, one was tall dark skinned and stood cross armed as his other silent friend, a white man with gray eyes and blond hair, drummed the handle of the revolver strapped to his leg. The one who was talking was a short man with a brown leather jacket that had metal pads on the shoulders, elbows and upper chest. He had two double barrel shotguns in his hands and a cigarette in his mouth.

'Im going to suggest you leave in not in the mood for any of your bullshit, so fuck off and let a man drink and nice jacket" Zuko said turning to bartender, a tan skinned, well endowed, green eyed, black haired women named Jin "Whisky, leave the bottle Jin" The man behind Zuko, grabbed his shoulder and yanked the Firebender around to face him.

"Look dick wad, im here to collect" The man said, his comrades flanked him. Zuko sighed and looked back at Jin as she placed the whiskey on the counter. Zuko shrugged the mans hand off and turned back to his drink.

"Well, I must say Jin you are looking quite beautiful tonight my dear" Zuko said, the two often spent time when he was in town and not many people knew it.

"You aren't looking so bad yourself scar face" Jin said batting her eyes in a flirting manor and leaning forward resting her elbows on the counter giving Zuko a straight line of sight to her cleavage.

"Well, if you keep talki…" Zuko suddenly felt something heavy and wooden hit him across his upper back, he lurched foreword "Excuse me for a minute my sweet" The Firebender turned around and punched the short man in the face, who stumbled back. The bounty hunter recovered and swung at Zuko, who caught his fist and arm dragged him past while bringing his knee to the mans gut, by now the revolver wielding man drew his weapon but Zuko used a fire blast to send him flying back into the steel bulkhead. The Dark skinned mercenary drew a large knife, Zuko then flipped the leader over and twisted his arm till he heard a few satirizing pops as the mans arm snapped at the shoulder. The black man swung the knife towards Zuko who ducked under it and brought a fist full of fire to the mans gut. The knife wielding assailant doubled over in pain but his revolver wielding comrade had stood back up and aimed at Zuko, the weapon roared as the fort-four magnum round went off. Zuko whipped his head just in time as the bullet whizzed past. The Firebender drew a colt forty-five from his holster and shot the revolver wielding man through the heart. Zuko spun quickly and kicked the dark skinned man to the ground and put three rounds in his back. The leader groaned from the floor as he cradled his arm. Zuko walked up and looked down at the man.

"Please just let me go, I will stay away from you I swear" The bounty begged.

"Nice jacket" Zuko said before bringing his foot up and letting it hover over the injured mans face, he used his bending to ignite his foot.

"Please, have some mercy"

"Sorry all out of mercy" Zuko said slamming his foot down. The bounty hunter quickly grabbed his attacker's money, weapons, and ammo. He zipped the front of the leader's jacket up his chest.

"Very nice jacket fits real well" Zuko said now wearing the dead mans coat. He sat down at the bar; the other patrons shrugged and went back to their drinks. A Mr. handy robot gathered up the body's and took them away. Zuko sipped his whiskey and flirted with Jin some more.

"Hey, let's get out of here" Jin said, a twinkle in her eye.

"Your place our mine?" Zuko asked the girl.

"Yours" Jin said.

One hour later

Zuko lay on his queen sized bed, Jin's head resting on his chest. Zuko's arm was draped around her.

"Zuko" Jin said quietly. Zuko looked down at her; his eyes meet her jade green ones.

"How long will you be gone this time?" She asked him.

"A few weeks tops, not the two months again" Zuko said.

"Good" Jin said curling up closer to him and resting her head back on his chest. The two drifted of to sleep in each others embrace. _A little peace, in this hell hole of a world is always nice_ Zuko thought as he drifted off to dreamland.


End file.
